I love the look of polished nails and freshly manicured hands. It makes hands look clean and neat and more youthful. But really, I almost never have my nails done. I am always washing my hands, cleaning dishes or doing laundry. A mom’s hands seem to always be in water. I own several pairs or rubber gloves but never remember to pull them out and use them until I am halfway through cleaning something and can feel the skin on my hands wrinkling and getting rough.

I love getting the occasional manicure with Gel Nails. You leave the salon with totally dry nails and for me they really do last two weeks. However, I got my nails done twice in one month this past February, and the removal process completely ruined my nails. They were thin and fragile and quickly broke off. Even as they started to grow back I had to wait for the remaining damage on the surface of the nail to grow out before they were strong again.

Out shopping I came across the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polish. It promised a 14 day Gel Manicure that removed like regular nail polish. I was super excited and quickly selected two spring time hues as well as the Top Coat.

That night I buffed and smoothed my nails and gave them a good filing. I followed the directions and used the pink color 310 called Shock Wave. The first thing I noticed was that the polish was thick and sort of goopy. It was virtually impossible to get a nice smooth finish. The color also went on uneven with shadow spots peeking through. I applied two coats of the color and really wanted to apply a third but it was already so thick that I didn’t.

Then I applied the Top Coat which did go on nice and smooth but did little to help the lumpy color underneath. After a couple of hours the nails seemed dry but I was not very happy with the over all look. It looked like a child had painted my nails because of the thick consistency of the polish. Even worse, the polish did not last 14 days. I started getting my first chips and cracks three days in.

I decided to redo my nails and use the peach color, Rosey Riviter, number 180. Maybe the pink was just a bad bottle? Maybe I didn’t apply it right?

The peach wasn’t lumpy and seemed to go on easier, but I still had the problems of shadows showing though the color. After two coats the polish was streaky. I decided to apply a third coat of color and finally I had nice peach nails. Next went on the Top Coat and I waited for them to dry. The drying time took forever, possibly because of the extra coat of color. Even the next day, which was Easter Sunday, preparing food and getting things ready to celebrate the holiday resulted in smudges and creases in the polish. I’m sorry but after 15 hours of drying time polish should not smudge.

I have now had the peach on for going on four days and it isn’t chipping, but it is starting to peel up near the cuticles. When I run my fingers through my hair it catches the hair and has become annoying.

The whole reason I like Gels is because as a busy working mom I don’t have to worry about them. They are rock hard the minute I leave the salon and last for two weeks. I really wanted to like the Sally Hansen Miracle Gels. They promised me the durability of Gels without damaging my natural nails but for me, this product takes way too much time (who has 15 hours to kill for drying time) and ends up looking sloppy no matter how hard you try to put it on. Keep your money ladies.
~Tina
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